Hungary’s largest opposition party, conservative Fidesz, has accused the centrist, pro-Brussels government of carrying out an unprecedented political attack after prosecutors seized parts of its communications infrastructure during an investigation linked to the National Cultural Fund (NKA).
According to Hungarian media reports, investigators searched a data centre on Tuesday, July 21st in Budapest, where Fidesz servers are hosted, examining the party’s internal e-mails and databases as part of an ongoing criminal investigation into the allocation of NKA funding under the previous Fidesz-led government.
Prosecutors are investigating alleged irregularities in the allocation of more than 17 billion forints (€47 million) in cultural grants awarded since December 2024. Six people have been arrested in connection with the case.
The raid has resulted in Fidesz email services and the party’s official website becoming inaccessible. Party communications director Bertalan Havasi said prosecutors arrived at the data centre without prior notice to seize the party’s communications systems and databases.
The raid appears to have all the characteristics of a political vendetta.
Former Fidesz minister János Lázár said that the authorities were also seeking access to the personal data of Fidesz supporters, calling the development deeply alarming. Bertalan Havasi said the raid marked an unprecedented step in post-communist Hungary and accused the governing Tisza Party of attempting to eliminate its main political rival through legal means.
Constitutional lawyer Zoltán Lomnici also questioned whether the seizure of an entire parliamentary party’s IT infrastructure was necessary, arguing that less intrusive measures, such as copying relevant data, might have achieved the objectives of the investigation without disrupting the party’s operations.
On Wednesday, July 22nd, former prime minister and Fidesz leader Viktor Orbán was forced to hold a press conference outside the party’s headquarters, saying the building’s digital systems remained inaccessible following the raid.
He described the incident as part of a broader erosion of democratic norms following recent constitutional changes adopted by Hungary’s new government.
He announced a “Declaration of Resistance,” adopted by his Fidesz party, pledging peaceful political opposition to an emerging authoritarian system, comparing recent events to the last years of the communist Kádár regime in Hungary.
This is a situation in which there is neither democracy nor the rule of law. When political competition is restricted and those in power decide who may stand in an election and who may not … They have abolished the system of checks and balances, and created a new political order: a system of political authoritarian rule.
Viktor Orbán was referring to the recent adoption of Hungary’s 17th constitutional amendment, which includes measures to forcibly remove and replace the president of the republic, as well as the president of the Constitutional Court, along with several judges, before the end of their mandates.
The changes also retroactively limit the mandates of members of parliament to three terms or 12 years, a move clearly designed to eliminate right-wing opposition MPs.
President Tamás Sulyok strongly condemned the measure as a direct attack on democracy, the rule of law, and the separation of powers. However, he ultimately signed the amendment into law, effectively bringing his own presidential term to an end.
An editorial published on Wednesday in daily Magyar Nemzet described the seizing of Fidesz’s servers as part of a campaign to eliminate the opposition.
With little or no resistance to speak of so far, [Prime Minister] Péter Magyar has been escalating a campaign of terror day by day. His aim is not to consolidate his reign of terror, but to destroy his political opponents once and for all.
